LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS.
© Activision

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PREVIEW: Get a peek at LEMONY SNICKET and VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE - BLOODLINES

We were recently out at Activision's offices to check out a few new games that Activision should release before the year is over. First up was LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS.

LEMONY SNICKET:

Based on the events that take place in the movie (which is based on the first three books) the game features the likenesses and voices of the film's main actors which include Jim Carrey. The game is aimed at a bit younger of an audience, but to be quite frank, I enjoyed playing it a lot.

The game allows you to switch between the three main characters in the game. Early on, we were dropped into Count Olaf's house and had to find the pieces needed to create an invention to kill the rats. The first few pieces involved fairly simple running around and pushing of boxes, but the last piece required sending the baby, Sunny, into a hole.

This brought on a sequence of Sunny sliding down the rafters in the house and jumping over obstacles. It reminded me of a baby falling down the stairs or something and I couldn't stop laughing. After getting the last item, the rat-killer is built and more of the house can be explored.

The demo jumped us forward a bit to a part of the game where the children roam the grounds to collect the snakes in the courtyard. This involved switching back and forth between Klaus and Violet to open paths for each other. Nothing too exciting or new, but at the same time, everything was well done and I had a fun time doing it.

By far my

Violet and Sunny escape the hurrricane in Activision's LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS game.

© Activision

While my opinion is by no means final, this seems like it's on the level with SHREK 2 as far as being a great all audience game that puts gamers into the movie. Keep your eyes peeled for our eventual review of the game.

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE BLOODLINES

I wasn't going into my hours with VAMPIRE holding a large set of expectations, but I was blown away by what was there. Using the HALF-LIFE 2 engine and the rules for the pen and paper role-playing game, things are already looking good. What was more amazing was the amount of things I found to do in my short time, and the way I was quickly sucked into the story.

The basic plot is this: you are a new vampire (that you create and choose skills/class etc.) that was not approved by the Prince of Los Angeles. However, you are given a chance to live, and must operate under the rules of the vampires, called the Masquerade.

This essentially means that you need to behave yourself in public places. Using vampiric powers in public can eventually bring vampire hunters down on you. Also, police will investigate and fight you if you do something silly like biting a hooker's neck in a dark alley (consider the fifty bucks for the meal a learning experience). Speaking of blood, it's essentially used as magic points, so getting blood packs from the blood bank as well as draining your enemies (in private) of blood is a wise idea. It's also wise not to become too evil by killing innocents. As you lose humanity, you can lose control of your character, attacking random people on the streets of L.A.

The gameplay

A screenshot from VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE - BLOODLINES.

© Activision

The game has several areas of L.A., including Santa Monica, Hollywood and Downtown. You'll find many real life locations in the game, and in the HL2 engine, they look great. One area of the game that was particularly well down was a haunted hotel that you must explore early on. A large amount of environmental effects and sound do their job in freaking you out, and there were at least a couple times where I jumped out of my chair.

That's maybe what adds the most intrigue to this game the atmosphere and story of vampires living secretly in Los Angeles is really compelling. I was sad to see my time with the game end, and I'm really looking forward to creating my own vampire and playing deeper into the game's story. There is no release date yet, but Activision expects to announce one soon.